Sofia The First - The Amnesiac Stranger
by Natnarf01
Summary: An unconscious body washes up on the beach near Dunwiddy village... Helen and Ruby brings him back home... Who is he? Will anyone figure out?... Will Sofia find out?... Will Miranda...Remember?... Collaboration with Sofia2015


_**Disclaimer: **Sofia The First Belongs to Disney._

_Comments From the Author:_

...There will be disappointment...

...

...The 3rd part of Cedric's Route isn't ready...

...

BUT I WILL NOT COME EMPTY HANDED!

I've been stuck on reviewing on the grammar checking and plot routing...I mean the other previous parts even took months of researching and reviewing...so don't expect me to be a genius about it...

This story is made by collaborating with Sofia2015...and I really loved the idea of this one...Please tell me if anyone wants me to make this into a big or short story...  
...(^v^)...

I hope this will make up for the 3rd part of Cedric's route...I promise that it'll be ready by next month...PROMISE!

Anyways...I'm still not sure how many chapters will there be since I'm still in the middle of it all...the PRESSURE!...so If you'd like to see a different pairing after Ced-Fia...please vote your choice of pairing found on my profile page...if you do not have a FanFiction account...you can leave your choice in my Twitter...Deviant Art...Blogger...or on my Youtube Account...I will be accepting these votes until the end of September this year...Yes...You've got a lot of time to get your friends or acquaintances (who likes and knows the STF series that is) to vote for your next favorite pairing for me to write...the highest votes will be the next pairing series for me to write after Ced-Fia...Remember..._VOTE VOTE VOTE_!

Here's a list of my social accounts...

Youtube: Natnarf1 (With a Cedric picture)

Deviant Art : Natnarf

Blogger: Natnarf1

Ello: natnarf

Twitter: NatNarf01

Well...I won't keep you guys any longer...

Remember...My next Preview of the Cedric's Route 3rd part will be posted in my Deviant Art and/or Blogger, on the 11th of next month...

Happy reading everyone! Enjoy!~

Until then...

_This is Natnarf..._

_Signing Off!~_

* * *

_Stranger's POV_

"Master, a glass of scotch on the rocks, please?"

"Right away, sir. Anything else?"

"Nothing else."

I had just arrived in a small bar, here in an unfamiliar village. I used to be a common villager, living a normal life, working in a bakery shop, and I had a beautiful girlfriend. I was having a happy life, even had plans on getting married and start a family of my own. But somewhere along that path I got kidnap in my own home in the middle of the night, and was brought and forced to work on a ship as janitor.

I did numerous attempts to escape, hoping that I wouldn't get caught and would be able to go back home. With each attempt I did, I'd always get caught, got whipped on the back until I bled, get thrown back into my room cell, wait till the morning sun comes out to be able to come out and start mopping the deck again. I was always close to being free, but it always has to be a stupid small mistake or an unpredictable timing that gets the attention of the pirates roaming about on their watch duty.

One time, I had just been thrown back into my cell after getting badly whipped, deciding to call it a night and climbed onto my rotten bed with a layer of dried hay as my only source of warmth. It wasn't long when I heard a set of heavy footsteps coming towards me. They probably didn't have enough fun just watching me get whipped on the back and wanted to do more to me. I braced myself as the footsteps got closer and closer, until I heard them stop just behind me.

"If ya wanna get off, ya gotta start beh'vin' like yer one o' us." He said to me in a whispered voice.

"...Huh?...One of you?..." I whispered back.

"The cap'n usually lets go of a prisoner if one were tah serve properly, like a real pirate. If I were ya, ya beta start beh'vin and work ya way up."

I quickly got up and turned to see who it was, but there was no one. I even stayed up all night that night to see if the mystery person would come back, but no one came until it was time for my to start my morning duties on the deck.

Ever since then, I started working twice as hard on the deck, scrubbing until my fingers got numb, till my knees got sore, until the wooden floor board were scrubbed till they could sparkle on their own without water. Once my hard work got noticed, I was raised to one level higher; from scrubbing the deck, to managing the stock and supplies, to being a dishwasher and then chef's assistant, the captain's personal dressmaker and finally the ship's navigator. When the captain announced to everyone on the ship that I would be set free, as a token for all of my hard work and dedication into serving on the ship, I almost couldn't believe it, even broke down into tears. Eight years. It took me longer than I needed to get off, but I was finally free. I didn't need to endure anymore whipping, wrinkly hands, sore feet, hot burning corn oil, needles pricking my fingers, or having to stay up all night just stirring the ship and avoiding enemy ships along way. But for whole time that I was serving on that ship, I never did get to find out who that mystery man was, nor did he ever tried to speak to me in any way again.

I only got off the ship today, five days after the captain had announced my 'resignation' in the middle of the ocean. The ship stopped and hid in a cave at noon today, and I was given a bag of gold and a few set of clothing as some sort of parting gift. It took me the whole afternoon to find my way through the forest, till dawn had almost set and I saw a line of smoke flying into the air, which lead me to this pub here. I plan on spending the night here, just as soon as I can find the owner of this place. Hopefully he won't charge me too much.

"Have ya heard? The King and Queen will be celebrating their second anniversary soon." One of the customers sitting in a round table said behind me.

"Who hasn't?" Another one said. "The King loves the Queen so much that he always showered her with attention and gifts."

"Isn't that normal?" Said the third guy. "They did fall in love at first sight after all."

"It's not the same. When he was married to the first Queen, they didn't celebrate their anniversaries at all, not even the first one. It wasn't even two years, but the King was nowhere near as sad as he should be when she died."

"I never got to know who the first Queen was. The only thing I knew was she had given birth to a set of non-identical twins, who had more of their father's genes than their mother. The current Queen also had a child of her own, yet she was never married. Could you believe that?"

"Well, my guess is that she probably had a relationship that never lasted for as long as she thought. Maybe the father of the child got scared and ran away when he heard about the pregnancy."

"Or maybe she was already in a secret relationship with the King, and the guy didn't know that she was pregnant with his child and committed suicide."

"Woah! Hey. Slow down there guys. I never said that the Queen did anything wrong or something. Don't start spreading rumors and stories that aren't true. Who knows what would happen if any of what we said ever reached to the King and summon us into castle?"

"What's the big deal? It's not they're going to send us to jail for commenting."

"Or for thinking what we want to think."

"As long as the King runs the kingdom properly without doing any illegal dealings, the villages under the Enchancia border would be fine."

Enchancia? Am I in Enchancia? Did I hear that guy say it correctly?

"Well, I'd better get going. My brother's probably waiting for me to take over the night shift in tending the pigs."

"Oh yeah, you never did tell me where you lived."

"He lives in the village of Dunwiddy, the place where the Queen used to live."

"The current or the dead Queen?"

"The current one of course, idiot. You're too drunk to even catch on."

"*HICCUP*! This beer's just too good, ya know. *HICCUP*!"

"Well, I ain't going back there yet, gotta go fetch a couple of bags of pig feedings near here. Whoops! See ya both later."

I finished the rest of my scotch and quickly turned around. The guy standing up was pushing his chair in getting ready to leave.

"You, Sir! Wait!" I said, calling out to him.

He stopped to look around, and finally got his eyes on me.

"Yeah. Could you come here for a sec?"

"Uh...sure." He said while trying to come over without wobbling and tripping. He gets over to my side at the counter top, where you can obviously see the drunkenness in his face. "What can I do you for?"

"I overheard your little conversation just now. You mentioned about a village called Dunwiddy." I said.

"What about it?" He says trying to hold firmly onto the counter top.

"I'm actually trying to get to Dunwiddy. My sister moved there some time ago with her husband, and I am supposed to go visit them. I lost my map on the way and was hoping to ask or find someone familiar with the directions. Could you help me?"

"Sure." He said. "From here, there's only one path...until you reach an sign with two paths. Go to right and it'll lead you directly to the village, go to the left and you'll face the ocean and sharp rocks fifty feet from the high cliff...Got it?" He says with a couple of silent pauses every now and again.

"Yes. Thank you." I said.

I waved to the bartender and gave him two gold coins. I took the man's hand and closed his hand.

"Thanks again. Here is something for your troubles." I said, up and left the counter and went straight to and out the door.

With the night air starting to get a little chilly, I put on my traveler's cloak and wore a mask like scarf over my nose and mouth. We usually wore these masks on the ship, just to hide our identities in case of any enemy attacks from other pirates or harbor authorities trying to catch the captain and the crew for stealing goods from rich folks. I have never participated in any of their shady activities, which is why most of my jobs involve staying on the ship.

I decided to hasten my pace and jogged on the path mentioned by the man. It was only one path, but it was quite a long one. He never did mention how long the was, which was my fault for not asking about it in the first place. I kept on going along the path, but I was running out of breath, so I had decided to stop by one of the trees and leaned against it.

"YOU FOOL!" A voice shouted not far from here. "YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO GET THE LAYOUT OF THE CASTLE!"

"B-B-But Sir Slickwell-" The other man was painfully mumbling in his voice.

"Oh shut your trap! This is the third time you've failed to get the layout! Just one simple layout of the map is all I'm asking, and you still didn't get to do it! You could've just drawn the basic out out!"

"But I can't draw, sir, let alone read. That was why I was hired as a Gardener and not allowed to go inside the castle premises."

"You literally are USELESS!" Slickwell said and I could hear him stomping on the ground. "I would've been Enchancia's Castle Steward if that princess hadn't been so meddling-meddlesome."

"Well...if you hadn't brought that cursed Klutzenheimer pin to Mr. Baileywick, you probably would still be serving King Magnus in the nice, warm, and cozy throne room, and not out here eating off stolen goods."

"Who are you to tell me such things?! You are working for me and steal things from the Enchancian castle."

"I wonder about that." The man said. "I am bringing these food for you, but I never said I stole them right from the castle's kitchen."

"Then where did you get these?" Slickwell looked at him with a sneer.

"I got them, from the servants in the castle, which are their leftovers from their meal."

All at once I could hear Slickwell spat out everything from his mouth to the floor.

"YOU IMBECILE!" Slickwell yelled out. "UGH! Just continue on getting the whole castle's map."

"Alright. How about the food?"

"I'll just find my own source of getting food. I'm never trusting my health in your hands ever again."

These were just a pair of criminal idiots. With the way they're acting, they'll never rob a house without breaking a door or vase, anything really.

"I know I won't be able to fool the King again, but maybe Queen Miranda won't be a problem at all."

I stopped at the mentioning of the name, Miranda.

"Sir, even the Queen herself would remember the very likes of you. The only ones who do not know you so well are the children, which are the King's twins. The Queen's daughter on the other hand, is the one you should watch out for. After all, she was the one who found out about your true nature, and schemes."

"Yeah, yeah. You don't have to remind me. If it weren't for that meddling princess, I would've been fine and Baileywick's job would've been mine! All MINE!"

"How do you plan on getting back inside anyway? It's not like you have any ability to rewind the time and undo your mistakes, or have any magical powers to change yourself into another person."

I stood up slowly and carefully, leaning my back against the tree bark. I shifted myself slowly to get a good look at their faces, but the dark night was at their advantage as I could only make out their outlines.

"But I do. I still have the book, 'The Beginners Guide To Magically Cursed Objects'. No one knows this, but somewhere in this book there's a pair of blank pages. Isn't this exciting?"

"Wow. This is TOTALLY exciting. Slickwell has finally lost it."

As humorous as it was, I tried my hardest not to laugh.

"You idiot! I haven't finished yet. No one has tried to uncover what was the purpose of these two blank pages, not has anyone attempted to write something down in them. Watch."

I tried to focus my eyes on them as I watch Slickwell light up a match and brought it closer to the pages of the book. I was squaring my eyes as hard as I could so as to get a look of the faces, both Slickwell and the secret accomplice. The accomplice had his face covered with a cloth mask, but this Slickwell guy, had incredibly long front wavy bangs. I do hope that his hair does get caught on fire, with the way he positions the match.

"There. The words are coming up."

"Oh. So the words were written with invisible ink."

"That's right. Now that most of the words have become visible, I'll read it out." He says and clears his throat.

I bent on my knees to prepare to listen. I could warn the King about Slickwell and be able to save his life, and maybe get an offer to work and stay in the castle.

"_The Pin of Klutzenheimer is known for making one clumsy, hence the word 'Kluts' in the name. The Pin of Klutzenheimer also has another hidden ability, which is to store information of the last four people or creature it has been pinned onto. The eyes of the snake of the pin stores information of the last four people it has been pinned onto. If any of the snakes' eyes are glowing, it means it has collected at least one person's or animal's information into it. Four jewels, equal for different person and animal._

"_Choose and press only one eye jewel, then pin it onto the inside of your clothing. Depending on whose information is stored into which eye jewel, the jewel shall magically transform your physical self into that person, even vocally. It will not affect your memories or your true nature. When you want to return back to normal and not loose the stored information in the eye jewel, press the eye again and you will turn back to the way you were before or originally. As long as you follow these steps correctly, the stored information will not be erased._

"_If, however, you have tried to take off the pin and forgot to repress the eye jewel, your information will replace any information it had in that jewel. The only way to get back the information is to pin the Klutzenheimer onto the person without pressing anything, and all of the stored information in the rest of jewels will reset all over. Pin onto four people or animal to fill in all of the jewels before using the Klutzenheimer's hidden cloning power. Note: you shall not get affected by the Klutzenheimer's power of clumsiness when using the cloning power._" He ends it by slapping the book closed.

The power to copy one's identity and be able to use it through the power of this so called pin? I doubt that he has what he wants.

"So how are you going to pin this pin onto them? You can't just ask me to go and pin everyone or anyone I see."

"Of course not."

"You're not?"

"I don't need to do so, because I already got the information I needed, right on the very pin itself."

He starts waving something small and shiny in front of their faces, which looked like a pretzel biscuit, with a couple more extra twists in the ends.

"There should at least be two people who had got this pinned onto them, which is Baileywick and myself, unless there is one or two more additional people I have not looked into. Since I gave and pinned this pin onto Baileywick myself, his information would be stored in the first jewel of the snake from the left."

He fiddles around with the jewels of the pin and pins it onto the inside of his jacket. In a matter of seconds, he began shining brighter and brighter, which almost blinded me. Then the lights starts to soften, and when I could finally make out his physical outline, his appearance has completely changed: from being originally short and wore nothing but rags with brown messy wavy hair, into a tall and slender man, well fixed hair and wore a pair of glasses, had a long-tailed black waist coat and long skinny leggings.

"Oh my. You look exactly like him."

"And I even have his voice." Slickwell said, with a more polite tone. "This way, no one will be able to tell who is the real Castle Steward of Enchancia. Ha Ha Ha Ha! SLICKWELL IS BACK!"

I decided to quietly run to the castle and tell the King and Queen about the whole situation and this psycho Slickwell person on planning to go swapping places with their castle steward. As long as I make it onto the path without creating any small or sudden noise.

"Ark! Ark! Ark!"

A crow cried out just from behind me and the two criminals had their eyes looking in my directions

"Who are you?!" Slickwell shouted.

"He was there the whole time, sir." The other one said.

It was no wonder he had his face covered since he knew I was here eavesdropping this whole time. It was a good thing I never took off my mask.

"WHAT?! YOU IMBECILE! WHY DIDN'T YOU SAY ANYTHING EARLER?!"

"I tried, Sir, but you told me to shut my trap earlier, so I couldn't-"

"UGH! YOU REALLY ARE USELESS!" He then looks at me. "QUICK! LET"S CATCH HIM!"

I wasted no time and started sprinting as far as my legs could get me, down along the path where I was originally supposed to go. It wasn't long before I arrived at an intersection point, where I should've been awhile ago instead of eavesdropping on criminal conversations. As soon as I stopped, my mind had completely gone blank. I forgot which path was I to go to.

"He shouldn't be far now!" Slickwell yelled not too far from here.

I decided to take my chances, took the left path and picked up my pace. If I ran fast enough, I would be able to ditch them in the dust. All I had to do was run far enough and hide myself in one the trees deep in the forest. I looked back every now and then, until I saw what wasn't there up ahead and immediately came to a halt.

In front of me was a large gorge. This would've been to my advantage on any other day, but it would seem that my luck was beginning to run out as the gorge was filled with fast raging water, with large sharp rocks poking out of the water. I fall into this, and I'd be found in the morning, in smithereens

I took a couple of steps back, but I heard footsteps coming towards me from behind and turned around. It was them, in the path of my only escape out of here.

"Well, well. I see that we've finally caught up with you. " A skinny man with wavy hair came into view. No doubt that this was Slickwell. "You ran quite fast, but I've got better hearing than you do."

"Salt." The other man with the mask on said. "I can smell salt on him. Must have traveled by ship."

This man, is not an ordinary one. He must be an assassin of some sort. I decided to put up my defenses just in case by taking out my Tonfa, one each hidden inside my sleeves.

I came to having the two Tonfa when the ship had landed in the country of Wei-Ling. One of the crew asked me what weaponry I wanted in case I got caught outside of the ship. I refused having any at first, since I always stayed on the ship. One time, a man with his portal size stall was stationed at the dock, selling dried leaves and herbs. Some other robbers nearby were waiting for an opportunity to rob the man. As soon as the man turned around, the robbers came out of their hiding places and tried to attack him, but he reacted much faster as he started tackling and knocking these men one by one, and they were on the floor hurling in pain. I watched and noticed the way his hands were during the fight, and they were holding something long and black. I waited until the robbers finally decided to retreat and went down to ask him what he had used. He showed me in each of his hand a long stick-like baton. It was definitely long and black, made of wood but it was a little heavy, and it had an extended handle on the side for the hand to hold it. It is like a baton, but just a little plain, and simple. He told me that they were his father's, the original owner and maker of the two Tonfa. I was impressed and in awe by such simple, yet effective weapons that I wanted to get a set myself, but I didn't know where to buy such a weapon nor did I have the money.

The night before we left Wei-Ling, it was time for everyone to turn in for the night. I had my own bedroom then so I was able to have my own privacy. I opened the door to my room and saw a large weird object sticking in halfway through my room window, wrapped up in a yellow tanned cloth with lots of rope tied all over it, with a folded piece of paper in between the ropes. I managed to pull all of it inside without waking up anyone, and I carefully took the letter out of the ropes. In the letter he wrote that he knew that I was boarding a pirate ship, and that I had been looking for a weapon of my very own as he heard some of the other crew members in the shopping districts searching to buy their own weapons. He wanted me to have something, a weapon of my very own, to protect myself whenever I was threatened by any of the pirates on the ship, or anyone dangerous along the way.

After I finished reading the letter, I opened up the foreign object part by part, one rope after another, one cloth after another. When I was finally able to reach the object from an opening among the cloths, I slowly and carefully pulled it out as it was a little heavy. It was a Tonfa, but it had a different look on it. The handle for the hand was there, the part where it should be a long stick, was a little wider, and longer than the normal Tonfa, which was really uniquely designed. I never did meet the man again, not even after the multiple times we stopped by the Wei-Ling piers over the next couple of years.

"What...are you holding?" Slickwell asked looking me my weapons.

"I think they are...Tonfa, sir." The other man said. "A pair of Melee weapons from Wei-Ling, but this is the first time I've seen them in that shape."

"Well, whatever they are, they should be no match for your skills I presume." Slickwell pave way.

"I should think not." He says and starts running over like a cheetah.

He leaps into the air and aims right for me. I swung my two Tonfas together and hovered it over me, just as he hits onto them and bounces right off, landing a little ways away from me. I maintained my posture as I pull apart my Tonfas to my sides.

"Those are some strong wood you've got there." He said.

But I remained silent and went into my fighting stance. He then lets out both his arms and out comes a pair of hidden short swords from the inside of his sleeves.

"But you're not the only one with hidden weapons up the sleeves."

He runs at me again and swings his arms towards my face. I swung my right Tonfa's longer part out and up, blocking both of his swords from my face. He was about a few inches taller than me, perfect size for someone of my height to manage. I used my right Tonfa to push away both of swords while swinging my left Tonfa forward and hit him on the waist. Just as he bends his waist where I hid inward, I used my right leg to try and sweep his feet off the ground. He was faster and managed to jump over my leg, pushed against my right arm and keeps a good distance apart from me.

"You're not bad, for a Tongfa fighter." He says.

"IT'S BECAUSE YOU TALK TOO MUCH! YOU FOOL!" Slickwell was obviously getting impatient.

"Sorry, sir." He tips his head a little to the side and goes back to his fighting stance.

I decided to shift my Tonfa by holding the right one on the long end, which is not normally done. I ran forward and swung my left Tonfa towards his knee. He dodges them, as expected, by hopping over them. Just as he was in mid air, I swung my right Tonfa as fast as I could and it hits him on his head from behind, creating a loud 'Tonk' sound. He starts tumbling as I swung my left Tonfa around again since I was holding it on the handle, hitting both on the back of his legs, knocking them both off the ground. I quickly used both my feet and pushed myself a little ways away from him, as I watch him fall to the ground on his back.

"Ack! My back!" He screamed.

"YOU FOOL!" Slickwell yelled again. "YOU'RE SLOWLY GETTING DEFEATED!"

"Wha?! MY MASK!" He said as he covers his face with one hand.

I held up a piece of fabric, torn from where the eyes of his mask were. I got with my thumb when I was swinging my left arm at his face. It's a good thing I had learned a little of the pirates' snatching techniques, it can be kind of useful during times of fighting. I held it up for a few seconds, just enough for the both of them to see it, then I tossed it behind me, imagining it falling into waters as runs along the raging currents.

"I KNEW I SHOULD'VE HAVE TRUSTED YOU! YOU COULDN'T EVEN FIGHT PROPERLY!" Slickwell was getting red all over his face.

Then I heard rumbling.

"Oops." The man spoke while holding his hand over his face. "I must've left a crack in the ground when I fell."

I looked towards where he hand landed, and there was a crack in the ground, spreading quickly on opposite sides. I felt my foot falling backwards with the crumbling earth. I didn't have anything to swing and grapple onto the side trees. I looked in all directions, but there was only these two men in front, another land a hundred yards away from my reach, and the running just below me, with large sharp rocks waiting to pierce me through. Realizing that I had nowhere left to run, I retracted both of my Tonfas back into my sleeves and stared hard into the face and eyes of these two men. If there was ever a miracle left in me, I swear that I find these men and personally take them on, as the faces of these two criminals will burn into my memories, even until when, and after, the next time I will open my eyes.

Before I plunged into the flows of darkness, I could see both of their silhouettes hovering over the edge. I could see their eyes clearly despite the darkness and the man still holding onto whatever is left of his mask.

…

…

SPLASH!

* * *

_Ruby's POV_

Another step.

I pick up an empty clam shell.

Another step on the right.

I pick up another spiral shell of a hermit crab.

Another step, with the ocean just washing up ashore.

I tried to pick up another shell, but it was really small and it just got washed away by the water.

"Darn." I said. "Oh well. I'll just try and find another one."

I was at the beach with my mom currently lying down and relaxing under an umbrella, and Jade, who was at the other end of the beach also looking for seashells. We wanted to collect as many as we could so that we could try and make a wind chime out of it, make put it up on our front doors. I know talk a lot and always make a lot of noises, but there are times even the calming chiming sounds of a wind chime is really appreciated instead of the sounds of my chattering.

After a few more counts I was starting to feel a little hungry. I quickly went back over to where my mom was. The picnic basket was between the umbrella and her.

"Mom, could I please have a sandwich?" I asked.

"Hm?" She opens her eyes and looks in my direction. "Ruby. Are you already hungry?"

"Kind of. I'll only take just one slice, with a napkin around it of course."

"Ha ha, alright." She giggles. "Just hold on a minute, Ruby dear."

She opens the one sided lid of the basket and takes a clean napkin on another hand to dig out a sandwich from the basket. She carefully wraps it with the napkin from her hand and hands it over to me.

"Thanks, Mom." I said and immediately took a bite. "Mm! Tuna!"

"Ha ha ha." Mom laughed happily. "The look on your face whenever you take a bite out of your food always makes me happy, you know that."

"Why? Do I look funny?"

"No. It's just the way you look every time you eat, always happy and full of sunshine. One of the best treasures of my life." She says and looks up into the sky.

I took another bite and stood up to look what's up in the sky. Only the sun was there, with a bunch of seagulls flying towards the left side. I followed the trail of seagulls from the sky, going towards the far down side of the beach of the direction I was going to keep on collection seashells until.

"I'm going to go check at the far end of the beach, Mom." I said and finished the last of my sandwich and neatly but quickly set my napkin beside her.

"Okay, but don't go too far, Ruby." She said.

"I won't." And I started jogging along the sandy shore.

I jogged along the wet sand while following the seagulls flying in the air. The sand was a little uncooperative, but I kept on jogging. It wasn't long before I was near the seagulls and saw a group of them gathered around on the sand. Usually whenever a group of seagulls gather, it is because one of them has caught a fish and it trying to snatch it from each other. This little gathering though seems to be different. I walked a little slower as I closed in on them to see what's going on. The seagulls slowly begin to scatter, as if they are paving way for me to go over. One by one, ten by ten, group by group, they all scattered away, until I saw a black boot sticking out.

"A Black Boot?! Is it a person?!" I quickly ran over to check it out.

All of the birds then flew over to one side of the sand as they slowly unveil the rest of the unknown object. The legs, the pants, the cape, the arms, and finally the head with soaked ashy hair. I rushed over to the body's side and pushed it over facing up. There was a scarf over his face.

"Oh My Gosh!" I said. "Is this...a spy or some sort?"

I was afraid that he might swing a knife at me at any moment, but he would've done so when I was turning him over. I tried to poke him on his cheeks with my right index finger. No movement.

"Oh no! Could he be...DEAD?!" "What do I do? What Do I DO?!" I was starting to really get panicky as I searched around the area. It took me a moment to realize that I was nowhere in my mom's line of sight.

"Alright. I gotta keep calm. I gotta keep calm." I kept on repeating to myself. "Alright, alright. Just Breathe 'In'!" And I breathed in. "Br'eth 'Ut'!" And I breathed out. I repeated two more times with my eyes closed, then I looked down again, at the lifeless body.

"Okay. Okay. I got this." I blinked a couple more times. "I should...look for help, an adult." I said with a pause. "I don't have enough strength to help him up since he is a full adult. I should check to see if he has any obvious wounds...or something."

I tried to look for any, but he was fully covered with clothing from head to shoes, apart from his hair and eyes.

"Okay. 'Plan A' failed. Let's go to 'Plan B'." I said as I stood up and looked around the area while patting off as much sand off of myself. "And try not to spread the sand on the body." I just had to say it out loud.

There was nothing but rocks, and sand, lots and lots of sand, except for the wide open vast ocean on the opposite side.

"Uh...okay...Plan B is...to try and move him away from the water."

I rubbed my hands together and took a hold of each of the gloved hand in mine.

"Alright. One...Two...THREE!"

I pulled on as hard as I could, but I stumbled and fell on the sand face flat into the sand after a couple of seconds. I come up, spitting out as much sand as I could from my mouth.

"PLAH! PLAH! PLUH!" I stuck out my tongue in disgust. "YUCK!" Then I looked at the body, which hadn't moved at all. "You are...really heavy...PLUH!"

I stood up again, and turned to look at the direction from where I came from, then back at the heavy body.

"Alright. 'Plan C', go to 'Mom' and ask for help." I said on my decision. "Now you just stay right here, Body, or whatever your name is. I'll be right back! I Promise! Buttercup's word!"

I looked around again and started running back, as fast as my feet could get me. It might have taken a few moments, but when my mother's and our spot was in my line of sight, I ran like my life depended on it and started shouting.

"MOM! MOM!" I yelled my lungs out. "MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMM!"

Jade was just arriving back to our spot when I yelled. She probably heard my call and quickly went over to wake up my mom. Mom immediately got up and looked in my direction.

"What's wrong, Ruby?" She said.

By the time I made it to our spot, I landed on my knees first then hands, and panted, really, really hard. I panted so hard that I could hear my own heart beating, like it was inside m ears.

"What's going on, Ruby?" Jade said.

"THA...THA..." I was still catching my breath to even talk.

"Jade, please get the water." Mom said.

"Uh, okay, Mrs. Hanshaw."

Mom squats down as she helps me up on my feet and props my arm over her neck. Jade then comes over with a cup of water in her hand.

"Here you go."

"Thanks." Mom takes the cup and puts it next to my mouth.

I slowly moved my arms up and my hands manages to grab a hold on the cup, then I slowly drank it, bit by bit, until I felt the last of the drops dripping onto my tongue.

"Haaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh..." I let out a breath.

"Alright." Mom hands back the cup to Jade. "Now, what's going on, Ruby?"

I took in one deep breath and looked at her.

"Mom...over there..." I pointed in the direction I came from. "Body...over there..."

"Wha?" Jade said.

"I...said...a body...over there..." I paused as deep as I could in between. "Can't...carry him...too heavy...for me to...uh...carry..."

"A body?!" Mom's eyes went wide. "You found a body over there?!"

I nodded, hard.

"Alright." Mom said as she lets me sit down on her chair. "You rest for a little bit, Ruby dear." She turns to face Jade. "You and I will start packing up and we'll all head over to the body."

"Right!"

I watched and breathed as they both quickly and swiftly packed up everything into two of our big picnic baskets, which we had brought everything in them. It wasn't long before everything was packed up, except for the chair and the large umbrella. I was already breathing normally by then.

"Ruby, you and Jade and will carry the baskets. I will set aside the chair and the umbrella, somewhere by the lifeguard."

"Alright, Mom."

"Yes, Mrs. Hanshaw."

I took one of the baskets and started jogging back. Luckily some of my footprints in the sand were still imprinted, so I followed along them. It took a little longer than it should, but we finally made it. We found a bunch of seagulls surrounding the body, as if they were keeping watch until I had returned. The moment they see me they starting scattering away, paving way for us to go to the body.

"Ah!" Mom gasped. "He's..."

"He's...what?" I asked.

"...Is he...dead?" Jade followed.

"No." Mom answered. "He's not. I'm gonna need help carrying him back. Jade, go back and ask help from the lifeguards, or anyone who can help us lift him. And hurry."

"Mm!" Jade nodded. "Got it! Be right back!' and she quickly dashes off.

Mom watches until she was a little further away from us, then turns to the man.

"Mom-"

"Quick, Ruby!" Mom cuts me. "Help me get the mat out!"

"Wha-"

"Just do as I say. We don't know how much of the water has he swallowed already."

I didn't object, nor did I reject and quickly took out the mat. Under mom's instructions, I spread open the mat beside the lifeless man, then mom carefully moves him over onto the mat and uses his large cape to cover over him, even to the part of his face, tucking the sides of the cape underneath him The mat was large enough to cover his height, and on along the sides were large holes. Mom always brought this particular mat whenever we went on any trip, whether for Buttercup activities or just normal leisurely trips, just in case someone got seriously injured and we could use it to carry them. It was a brilliant idea, even though I usually don't like the idea of having to carry a body on something that we would also be using to sit on to protect our bottoms.

"There." Mom uses her forearm to wipe off her heavy sweating on her forehead. "That should do it."

"Hey!"

I turned around to see Jade running over, with a few of the village men behind her. She came over and panted, less heavy than I was eariler.

"I couldn't...find the lifeguard...but I got them...instead...Uuuuuggggghhhh!" She yelled out and landed on the sand on her butt, while panting.

"Great job, Jade." She says and looks at the men coming towards us.

With the cooperation from everyone, we managed to bring him all the way back to our house. We decided to have him lay on the couch in the living room by the fireplace, where he could get warm and it would be easier for us to get the necessary supplies, instead of running up and down the stairs and tripping along the way.

We thanked everyone who helped us and they all went home, including Jade. I then lit up the fire in the fireplace and tidied up the mess on the floor around him.

"Ruby, could you also close all of the windows and curtains around the house? I'm trying to make a special kind of water, and I can't have any flies coming in."

"Alright!"

I went throughout the house, closing and checking every window, and shooing all of the flies in the house. Once I was done, I went to the living room to find mom already there, kneeling on the floor.

"I'm done closing every window, Mom."

"Good." She says and takes a hold of a cup, filled with what seemed to be like water.

"Mom. Is that water?"

"Not exactly." She held the cup to me. "I added a little pitch of something, which should help the man vomit most of the sea water inside of him."

"What?!" I blinked fast and hard.

"Hold this. I'm going to lift him up as best I can and put some support underneath him until he's slanted upright." She handed me the cup of water.

I watched her as she grabs a couple of the couch cushions that I moved to the floor earlier, then she uses her right hand to hold the two pillows, the other to lift him up from the back and slips the pillows under his back. He only arched a little, but it was better than letting him lie down flat.

"Alright. This should do. Give me the cup, please."

I gave it to her without asking. She takes it and with her right hand and moves in a little closer on her knees.

"You watch how I do it, so that you will learn." Mom nods her head forward, towards the free space on my right.

I nimbly shifted towards my right with my knees, like my legs were amputated. My mom then used her left hand to remove the cloth that was used like a mask and squeezed somewhere on the cheeks to open his mouth. I tried mimicking m mom by using my own hand to press on my cheeks, and I was able to do so after a couple of tries and presses. Slowly, my mom poured a continuous medium size flow of water into his mouth, then stops and closes his mouth upwards with his jaw. I observed as she did the same procedure a couple more times, then she places the left side of her face over his chest.

"M-Mom?!" I was panicking.

"Shh!" She shushed me with her lips. "I'm trying to hear if the water's going down his lungs or the stomach."

"Oooooooh." I exclaimed in a whisper.

It took her a few moments before she moves away from him. She uses her hand to palm touch over his forehead, then at the neck under his chin.

"Hm. It seems his fever is starting up. I'm going to have to stay up to keep watch tonight to see if his temperature will change every hour or so." She lets out a breath.

"I'll keep watch too, Mom." I said.

"It's alright, Ruby dear." She says and strokes my head. "I need you to get a good night's sleep, so that you'll be well rested."

"How come? I can help too, you know."

"Because I need you to help take watch for me while I go ask around to see if they know him, or if he's on the 'Missing Persons' list. You already know how to provide first aid and what to give them if they're hungry and thirsty, right?"

"Yup." I said with a good nodding.

"That's my girl." She pats me gently on the head. "Now go on. Choose any of the bread on the table, that will be our dinner for tonight since we didn't get to catch any fish, then you go to bed."

"Okay." I said.

* * *

_Helen's POV_

I watched my daughter go up stairs with her bread in hand until I heard her close her bedroom door shut. I immediately turned to look back on the stranger whom Ruby had found during our beach trip with Jade. We brought him back with the help of some of the villagers who were also at the beach, and arrived just in time before his lungs got too clogged up. I hope that the salt in the water I made will help remove the sea water.

I stare into his face, a face I probably recognized and seen before, but I just couldn't be too sure.

"This can't be him. It's been a far too long time since then." I whispered.

The logs in the fire crackled. I quietly walked over to the fireplace and added a couple of already chopped logs and wood into the burning pit.

"That should be better." I said as I watched the fire slowly spreading onto the new batch of wood.

I suddenly shifted as I heard the stranger moaning. The water must have started washing the sea water in his stomach. He'll be alright by the afternoon.

I got up and went to get my first aid bag, the one I usually bring with me during the girls' Buttercup trips. I also got some spare large shirts that I have stored away in my cabinet, in case just some of the men villagers around here ask for me to administer first aid on their wounds and injuries. Our village doesn't have a clinic, so I sort of became the village's nurse and first aid doctor. I can only do what my abilities can give, anything complicated I would offer a ride on our donkey and cart to go to the big hospitals in the next village or city.

I set the cover aside and carefully took off his clothing, by removing the long sleeved shirt first. As I was removing his sleeves I felt two large objects hidden in them. I pushed the sleeves upwards and found a sort of wooden stick, on each arm. I searched the rest of the body to confirm my suspicions, found nothing else except for a large heavy pouch tightly tied, probably his traveling money. I carefully took off the two large unknown objects and set them aside in front of the fireplace to dry. I continued to take off his shirt and my hand felt something odd on his back. When the shirt was finally taken off and I tried to shift his body so that I could see his back, I almost dropped to the ground as I got the shock of my life: whipping and slashing marks, largely scattered all over his back, some were lightly fainted ones on his arms and his chest. If anything, this explains where he was from and who he is: he was once a captive and was upgraded to a pirate.

Some of our villagers who got kidnapped a good few years ago, all of them were strong young men. There were some who managed to escape from them and returned to us a few days later, but not without patches of wounds and slashes. This man must've endured long enough to survive the beating, then was given a good position 'cause he's got potential. The only question now is, why was he washed onto the beach?

I let his heavy body lean on my shoulder as I started sterilizing the wounds all over his back and arms, then I slowly shifted to try and sterilize the minor wounds on his chest. When that part was done, I got my large rollers of bandages and started wrapping from his waist going up. It took about two rolls to cover his body, then I also wrapped his arms, one roller each arm. It took me about three hours to finish since he was a large and muscular person. Who knows what would happen if someone else did the administration on him and found all of these.

I washed a cold towel and folded it to put across his forehead after laying him back down on the couch under the covers. I tossed some more logs into the fireplace as I hid the large black objects underneath the couch.. I wouldn't want Ruby or some of the villagers getting spooked by them. I went out into our front yard and found some of the growing herbs in the soil and pulled them out, while finding some growing edible mushrooms by the roots of a large tree just beside out house. Went back inside and got some more logs to start a fire to boil a new batch of water in a pot, along with the ingredients I picked.

"Who knew this day would come, where I'll have to take care of a pirate, in the safety of my own home?"

I looked over my shoulder to check, sweating and breathing heavily in his sleep.

"I wonder..." I questioned with an image appearing in my head of a certain man.


End file.
